By Sam Douglass 

The Vermont House Committee on Judiciary continued discussion Thursday of a proposed amendment to H.937 that would expand a holistic judicial program that has earned praise in Chittenden County for reducing judicial backlogs. 

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Eric Maguire (R-Rutland 5), aims to reduce case backlog by creating structure for an existing court model that integrates mental health and other services into the courtroom setting and could move from county to county. 

The Community Accountability Court model was pioneered last year in Chittenden County at a time of rising concerns about public safety, when Vermonters demanded accountability and solutions. According to Maguire, when the court model was launched, it faced around 900 pending cases, including numerous repeat offenders with five or more open dockets. Within months, more than 700 cases were resolved with a 300 percent clearance rate, even as case numbers expanded to nearly 1,000 cases. 

In his testimony to the committee, Maguire explained that the program’s success has been attributed to its integration of supportive services, combining accountability with alternatives to incarceration. 

“The success was not limited to clearing cases. The pilot connected defendants directly to services. AHS [Agency of Human Services] staff, mental health workers, and community providers were physically present in the courtroom, arranging treatment, placements, housing, and stabilization support in real time,” said Maguire. 

The idea was also raised in committee by Jaye Johnson, General Counsel to Governor Scott. 

“Because if the underlying behavior is driving the crime, then you have to deal with that underlying behavior before you can reduce the issues of repeat offenses in communities,” said Johnson. 

Despite his support for the program, Maguire criticized its rollout in his home county of Rutland for its reduced scale and limited number of court days, which he described as “calendar triage.” However, Johnson said that the blame rests squarely with the judiciary. 

“The governor cannot mandate a court … the governor cannot assign judges or court staff or require the use of certain court space, right? Only the judiciary can do those things. So just like pretrial supervision, it’s really not worth having the tool if the judiciary won’t use it. I mean, that’s just my simple observation. So the judiciary made the decision that the accountability court in Rutland would be one day a week, and I think then added one day every other week,” said Johnson. 

Maguire’s amendment addresses this by requiring the judiciary to act—and he said staffing shouldn’t be an issue. 

According to Maguire, the past three years have seen an increase in staffing for Vermont’s judiciary, yet case backlogs haven’t declined, suggesting a structural problem rather than a staffing one. 

“If Vermont wants to replicate Chittenden’s outcomes, it must replicate Chittenden’s model, not a diluted version of it. The judiciary has the staff to do this, but not the structure,” said Maguire. 

His amendment does not create any mandates for counties to participate, but it allows coordination between state agencies and ensures appropriate resources and structure for counties that face case backlogs. Under his proposal, the court would move every 60 to 90 days to counties based on need, bringing resources and support to help individuals make sound decisions and to bring down case backlogs. 

Information for In Committee news reports are sourced from GoldenDomeVt.com and the General Assembly website. Generative AI has not been used in the writing of this story.